Finding The Right Source-To-Pay Solution For Your Needs
Features Of E-Procurement
Effective e-procurement is essential in todays competitive business marketplace, and utilizing source-to-pay solution is an important part of strategic financial planning and cost control. The right source-to-pay solution could help business achieve cost savings, remain competitive, and streamline the purchasing process, but the wrong solution could be waste of time and resources. As such, executives in the finance department must have thorough understanding of the features and capabilities of source-to-pay solutions when choosing suitable option for their business.
Prior to selection, an executive in the finance department must assess the current and future needs of e-procurement. To identify the features that are most relevant to the companies requirements, they must look at the size of the company, its goals, budget and the range of products it needs. This information should be used to create list of requirements for source-to-pay solution that logically makes use of structured evaluation criteria.
The executive should ensure that the solution provides support for any current or future systems, and that the solution matches the goals and budget of the company. For maximum acceptance, the wishes and needs of the stakeholders should also be taken into account.
Once they’ve identified the core criteria, the executive in the finance departmentshould create comparison lists. Compare various solutions in terms of the features that the company requires, such as the type and number of users supported, scalability, compatibility with other systems, cost, contract length, system complexity and previous customersatisfaction. list should be made with multiple solutions showing both their advantages and disadvantages for easy comparison and an overview of the data.
The executive should investigate the security aspect as well. Many of todays source-to-pay solutions have built-in tools for secure data storage and are kept up to date with the latest security protocols. The ability to track purchases, play audit trails, and have access to information from any device or computer should also be scrutinized.
Finally, the executive in the finance department must evaluate vendor support. The vendor should provide customerservice that is knowledgeable and prompt in responding to customer inquiries. They should be ready to answer any product or implementation questions and provide customersupport at all times.
Following an informed assessment of the source-to-pay solutions available, and thorough comparison of the core criteria, the executive in the finance departmentshould be able to make an informed decision as to the solution that is most suitable that company. Taking the time to analyse the various source-to-pay solutions available will ensure that the company is best equipped to reach their goals and maximize their purchasing power.
